Ward 10

Ward 10 News: Ernie Starr Arena reopens

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Article Date:
11/8/2013

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From the City of Calgary Newsroom:

After 40 years of serving Calgary’s hockey community, The City of Calgary’s Ernie Starr Arena has reopened following a year-long much-needed upgrade. The facility was badly in need of renovations due it its age and worn-out condition.

“Ernie Starr Arena is one of our busiest arenas with 600 bookings and 1,800 hours of hockey played every year,” said Thomas Hansen, manager of Capital and Asset Management with Recreation. “The work done here was critical to continue meeting both current and future demand.”

The arena now features more and larger change rooms with separate space for female players, new washrooms, and all new amenities for players and spectators in the rink area. The original sand floor the ice sits on was also replaced with concrete. This concrete floor will improve the consistency of the ice surface and allow off-season use for other sports such as lacrosse, ball hockey and roller hockey.

“We are very thrilled about the upgrades, especially the new concrete floor,” Hansen says. “It took more than 30 trucks and eight hours to pour the 8,500 cubic feet of concrete we needed. Now that was something to see.”

Along with new amenities and the concrete floor, work also included energy-efficient insulation and cladding that will help to reduce the overall operating costs of the facility.

“Investing directly in our communities helps make Calgary a better place to live, work and play, and maintaining our current facilities is just as important as building new ones,” said Councillor Andre Chabot, Ward 10.

“I’m excited to see the work that has been done making this building more accessible for other sports and to help improve the experience of those who have and will continue to use it for years to come.”

The project was paid for through the community investment fund ($3 million), the Municipal Sustainability Initiative ($1.6 million) and Recreation life cycle fund ($800,000).

The community investment fund was created by City Council and will invest a total of $252 million from 2012 to 2016 in tangible and useful community improvements like libraries, recreation centres, swimming pools, arenas, athletic fields, parks, playgrounds and emergency services. To date, $9.9 million has funded arena upgrades and work is scheduled to start next on the Henry Viney and Frank McCool Arenas.

This content represents the personal views and opinions of the Ward Councillor and should not be taken as a statement of policy of The City of Calgary. The inclusion of any external content does not imply endorsement by The City of Calgary.